Ordering nano- and microparticles assemblies with liquid crystals
Résumé
Besides nanostructured materials, individual particles are key elements for nanosciences. The structuring properties of liquid crystals (LCs) are appealing to assemble them, to organize them on substrates or to design functional composites.We present here an overview on particles/LC systems, the size of the dispersed particles being larger than the typical LC length.We first summarize the large number of advances made these last 10 years concerning microparticles assemblies. We then discuss the evolution of the relevant interactions between nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed in LCs when their size decreases from micrometers to nanometers. This allows us to discuss the various assemblies which can be obtained, either in LC bulk, at interfaces or within LC distorted areas or topological defects. Finally, we consider the recent possibilities to use NPs as building elements of complex fluids. We discuss accordingly the LC phases, which can be obtained with pure inorganic NPs in concentrated solution, as well as the self-assemblies which can be obtained when NPs are covered by organic mesogenic ligands.